CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) - De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) has launched the De Beers Marine Zimele Business Hub in Cape Town aimed at supporting entrepreneurs in a range of sectors.

The hub is the company’s first in the Western Cape. DBCM partners with entrepreneurs through funding, mentoring and guidance and has hubs in all four provinces where it operates. 

“We want to affirm people to move forward. We are creating an environment in which you own your future,” DBCM chairperson Barend Petersen told the launch at De Beers Marine in Cape Town.

In 2014, De Beers Zimele supported 233 new small and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) and created 2 335 jobs in rural and regional urban areas. Petersen said loans to entrepreneurs through the hubs totalled R60.7-million. Women make up nearly half of the entrepreneurs it supports.

The company says it makes it easier for budding entrepreneurs to access its services as it does not require collateral from anyone who applies for a loan. It also supports people who have been blacklisted and ensures they get their obligations settled. It charges 6% interest.

Through its various hubs, De Beers Zimele has supported businesses in the beneficiation of jewellery, the construction of government subsidised houses, municipal building cleaning services, railway laundry services and the production of protective clothing. 

De Beers works in partnership with the government in developing entrepreneurs.

Small Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said partnerships were all-important and that entrepreneurs needed to be encouraged to grow their businesses.

“We believe in people standing up and doing things for themselves. We are a small business development department, but we have no intention of keeping people small. We need to help entrepreneurs rise to the next level. What’s is important is sustainable growth.”

But Zulu said South African entrepreneurs needed to sacrifice and work hard to succeed. She cited an example of a Somali-run spaza shop in Khayelitsha where she bought mineral water recently. She said she had wanted to support the South African spaza shop but its owner was nowhere to be seen and it opened for business only at close to noon. She said the Somali shopowner told her he had been open for business from 05:00.

“We struggled hard to attain freedom for South Africa, but with freedom comes responsibility. My message to young entrepreneurs is not to waste the opportunities put in front of you. Work hard and be a shining example.”

Zulu said she was reviewing some government programmes in a bid to boost SMMEs and their performance. She had also been in talks with De Beers about extending development funding into agriculture. 

One of the young entrepreneurs supported by De Beers Zimele is Hadley Harris from FutureTel Communications, who has grown his telephony business into a company employing over 150 employees.

“Zimele assisted us to get the necessary machine and install fibre optics across the country. They’ve also mentored us. They’ve given us hope that big companies like theirs were small enterprises at some time.”  

DebMarine chairperson Burger Greeff helped to initiate the introduction of the Cape Town hub. DebMarine is DBCM’s technical support company for the marine mining business in the South Western Coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

It employs about 400 people during the normal course of time. This escalates to between 1 000 and 1 500 employees during ship in-port periods.